rted of prelates; and the
defence is, that he took his little son on his knee and
kissed him! We censure him for having violated the articles
of the Petition of Right, after having, for good and
valuable consideration, promised to observe them; and we are
informed that he was accustomed to hear prayers at six
o'clock in the morning! It is to such considerations as
these, together with his Vandyke dress, his handsome face,
and his peaked beard, that he owes, we verily believe, most
of his popularity with the present generation.

Appealing to Prejudice or Passions. The question is also ignored when
the speaker appeals to the prejudices or passions of his audience
(_argumentum ad populum_). Persons of some intellect resent this as
almost an insult if they are in the audience, yet it is often resorted
to by speakers who would rather produce the effect they desire by the
use of any methods, right or wrong. Its use in court by unscrupulous
lawyers to win decisions is checked by attempts on the part of judges
to counteract it in their charges to the jury, but its influence may
still persist. Mark Antony in Shakespere's play, _Julius Caesar_, used
it in his oration over the dead body of Caesar to further his own
ends.

Taking Advantage of Ignorance. Just as a speaker may take advantage of
the prejudices and passions of an audience, so he may take advantage
of their ignorance. Against the blankness of their brains he may hurl
unfamiliar names to dazzle them, cite facts of all kinds to impress
them, show a wide knowledge of all sorts of things, "play up to them"
in every way, until they become so impressed that they are ready to
accept as truth anything he chooses to tell them. Any daily paper will
provide examples of the sad results of the power of this kind of
fallacious reasoning. The get-rich-quick schemes, the worthless stock
deals, the patent medicine quacks, the extravagantly worded claims of
new religions and faddist movements, all testify to the power this
form of seemingly convincing argument has over the great mass of the
ignorant.

The Fallacy of Tradition. In discussing the burden of proof it was
said that such burden rests upon the advocate of change, or novel
introductions, etc. This tendency of the people at large to be rather
conservative in practice links with the fallacy of tradition, the
belief that whatever is, is right. In many cases such a faith is worse
tha